Clerk: My judge likes it when motions begin with an up-front summary, but he won’t write his orders and opinions that way.
Schiess: Why not?
Clerk: He’s afraid if he does, people will read only the summary and skip the rest.
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Wayne Schiess
Author of Preparing Legal Documents Nonlawyers Can Read and Understand
“Turning out flashy, dense, complicated prose is a breeze; putting things down in simple terms that anyone can understand takes brainwork.” Patricia O’Conner, Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing (Harcourt 1999).
and
“Simplicity is widely praised but narrowly practiced.” Robert Gunning, The Technique of Clear Writing 68 (McGraw-Hill 1968).
My book about writing legal documents in plain English:
Preparing Legal Documents Nonlawyers Can Read and Understand
Also here.
